1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, to a crisper system which enables a single crisper drawer, pan or bin to be slidably supported in any one of at least three distinct ways.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In the art of refrigerators, particularly household refrigerators, it is often desirable to create varying humidity and/or temperature controlled storage zones to enhance the preservation of different food items. For instance, it is common to accommodate the storage requirements for certain food items, such as dairy products, meats, fruits and vegetables, by forming separately enclosed storage areas within a fresh food compartment. In most instances, these storage areas are designed to be maintained at temperature and/or humidity levels which are different from the control levels of the remainder of the fresh food compartment.
In particular, it is known to provide a crisper pan at the bottom portion of a fresh food compartment, wherein the crisper pan is slidably mounted in one of various distinct ways. In each case, the overall mounting arrangement includes a support frame, which can also establish a shelf within the fresh food compartment, and a crisper pan slidably supported from the frame. Depending upon the particular manner in which the crisper pan is to be slidably supported, both a unique support frame and a unique crisper pan are employed. Therefore, when a certain slide system is selected, such as a friction, roller or ball bearing glide system, a dedicated support frame/crisper pan combination is utilized.
When utilizing a roller glide system, multiple rollers must be supported on each of the crisper pan and the support frame. In the art, it is common to employ one of two types of fastening arrangements for the rollers. The first arrangement utilizes screws. Most often, both the crisper pan and the support frame are molded of a plastic material, such as polycrystal styrene. When driving a screw into styrene, extreme care must be taken to avoid cracking of the material. The second fastening arrangement employs a snap-fit attachment for the rollers. Unfortunately, although assembly is more reliable, such a roller arrangement has not been found to be particularly robust. Specifically, it has been found that the wheel of the roller often ends up dragging, instead of rolling. Obviously, this defeats the potential advantage of using rollers instead of a friction glide system.
Although designing dedicated combination support frame and crisper pan systems is plausible and commonplace, it would be beneficial to provide a universal support frame and crisper pan system wherein a single support frame can be utilized with a single crisper pan while enabling the crisper pan to be slidably supported by the support frame through a selected one of friction, roller and ball bearing glide arrangements. Therefore, there exists a need in the art of refrigerators for a multiple slide crisper system which will enable a single crisper drawer, pan or bin to be slidably supported in any one of at least three distinct ways, including the use of friction, roller or ball bearing glide systems.